Social Archaeology Research Articles

Visual affordances and social interactions at Early Iron Age Khirbat al-Mudayna al-ʽAliya, Jordan

Social archaeology of the early Iron Age southern Levant has tended to work from the top-down, using abstract models of social organization, collective identity and subsistence economies to interpret archaeological remains. In this paper a bottom-up approach that uses the visual affordances of the built environment of Khirbat al-Mudayna al-ʽAliya, an Iron Age IB site on Jordan’s eastern Karak Plateau is proposed. Four different methods of visibility analysis are proposed, including a bespoke hybrid approach developed by one of the authors (Wilson). Analyses suggests that the two largest houses at Khirbat al-Mudayna al-ʽAliya were exempt from the dense inter-visible monitoring afforded by the built environment of the site. Combined with other archaeological evidence, the analysis supports the inference that these two houses were occupied by households whose status differed from their fellow residents by degree, if not kind. It is argued that extending this sort of micro-political analysis to other sites would allow for the construction of more nuanced, bottom-up, narratives of social change in the early Iron Age southern Levant firmly grounded in the archaeological record.

“They Were Just Eating to Live”: The Social Archaeology of Ottoman Foodways and Ceramics

The article offers a large-scope assessment of archaeological and ethnoarchaeological research on foodways within the core Mediterranean heartlands of the Ottoman Empire. It integrates evidence from a range of historical and archaeological sources, both terrestrial and underwater. After presenting an overview of 30 years of scholarship on the subject, it introduces the Ottoman manner of eating, cooking, and dining with the help of glazed tablewares and unglazed coarse wares from archaeological contexts. Furthermore, it shows the means of transportation and the trade routes for foodstuffs, as well as the ways in which they were cooked and consumed, from the sultan’s court to country folk in rural villages.

We Need Social Archaeology to Understand Resilience and Build Usable Pasts

We Need Social Archaeology to Understand Resilience and Build Usable Pasts

Dancing with Counterpreservation

The Tabacalera is a 30,000 sq m building located in Madrid city centre. Erected at the end of the eighteenth century, it originally functioned as a state-run tobacco factory until its closure in 2000. After ten years of abandonment, the Ministry of Culture leased part of the property to a series of local collectives to use as a “self-managed social centre”. Here, in an atmosphere characterised by repurposed decay and new informal accretions, all kinds of cultural and communal activities are held every day, including those of the Centro Revolucionario de Arqueología Social (CRAS, Revolutionary Centre for Social Archaeology). Between 2018 and 2020, I engaged with the social and organisational dynamics of the centre, exploring the motivations and aspirations of its various collectives and of other actors involved. Deploying Daniela Sandler’s notion of “counterpreservation” – the purposeful embracing of decay as a social and aesthetic act – this article suggests that, in just a decade, the centre has become an icon of free culture and libertarianism, acquiring a consistent heritage identity that is indissociable from its decaying materiality. This article also aims to examine how both social and aesthetic dimensions forge a joint resistance to potential institutional plans that may jeopardise the centre’s continuity.

A conversation with Koji Mizoguchi. On globalization, Japanese archaeology and archaeological theory today

AbstractOn the occasion of a short research trip to Japan, I had the opportunity to sit down with Professor Koji Mizoguchi in Kyushu University, Fukuoka, to discuss several topics, which you will find transcribed below. I was curious as to his thoughts that he – as the President of the World Archaeological Congress, a non-governmental and non-profit organization that promotes the exchange of archaeological results, training at a global scale and the empowerment of Indigenous and minority groups, a Professor of Social Archaeology, and one of the few archaeologists writing archaeological theory in the far East – had on the state of the art of archaeology today. Furthermore, since I grew up in Europe but nevertheless feel a deep connection with my own Asian ancestry, I was very interested in Mizoguchi’s own experience and contributions to archaeology in Japan and the world.

Environmental remediation as social archaeology: Excavating sites contaminated by early nuclear weapons activities in New York City, both literally and hermeneutically

AbstractNew York City, where the Manhattan Project began, has some of the world's oldest nuclear weapons production sites, exposing New Yorkers to ongoing risks of ionising radiation. This article considers six sites of particular environmental concern. Assessment, monitoring and clean‐up of these locations have taken place over three different periods: private remediation before 1992; federal government remediation in the early 1990s followed by two decades of neglect; and a long‐standing campaign to deal with risks at two remaining sites. Addressing radioactive legacies has involved a feedback loop between literal excavation of contaminated locations and a more hermeneutical process of meaning‐making. Journalists, activists and politicians have transformed some places into sites of memory, cultivating connections to concerns about environmental justice, radiation protection and nuclear disarmament. The 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) established new obligations to remediate environments contaminated by nuclear weapons activities. While the USA refuses to join the TPNW, in‐depth, historical study of remediation at these sites can provide useful insight for states parties establishing policy to implement TPNW obligations. Recent passage of nuclear disarmament legislation by the NY City Council shows the ongoing policy relevance of nuclear weapons issues in local policymaking.

:A Social Archaeology of Roman and Late Antique Egypt: Artefacts of Everyday Life

:<i>A Social Archaeology of Roman and Late Antique Egypt: Artefacts of Everyday Life</i>

The Nitrica I: Funeral deposit of proto-Lusatian warrior from Western Slovakia

Abstract The genesis of Lusatian culture is not sufficiently understood due to the demanding nature of its funeral ideology, which suddenly makes the highest social group invisible in the eyes of archaeologists. The elite proto-Lusatian burial of Nitrica I (Bz C2/D – ca. 1350–1300 BC) points to a persisting warrior-chief component of the Middle Bronze Age origin, which survived here from the previous period and probably contributed to the spread of Lusatian-style pottery. It reveals the diachronic acculturation of ending Tumulus facies, which has retained the habits of depositing votive wealth in graves, while the community of the Urnfield facies have decided (or been forced) to drastically reduce the importance and investment in funeral deposits. Typologically, this is the richest burial of Lusatian cultural zone with a significant continental importance, and offers an excellent case for the integration of multidisciplinary approaches in chronology, sociology, cultural development, and others. Selection of the location of the central burial and its position in the landscape was not accidental, and later began to function as a ritual centre/territorial marker with a high occurrence of metal hoards – which raises several implications in social archaeology and points to a sophisticated spiritual thinking of the Lusatian communities.

A Conversation with Lynn Meskell

Lynn Meskell is PIK Professor of Anthropology in the School of Arts and Sciences, Professor in the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, and curator in the Middle East and Asia sections at the Penn Museum. She is currently A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University (2019–2025). She holds Honorary Professorships at Oxford University and Liverpool University in the UK and the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Over the past twenty years she has been awarded grants and fellowships including those from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Australian Research Council, the American Academy in Rome, the School of American Research, Oxford University and Cambridge University. She is the founding editor of the Journal of Social Archaeology. Meskell has broad theoretical interests including socio-politics, archaeological ethics, global heritage, materiality, as well as feminist and postcolonial theory. Her earlier research examined natural and cultural heritage in South Africa, the archaeology of figurines and burial in Neolithic Turkey and daily life in New Kingdom Egypt.

The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant: From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700–1000 BCE

The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant: From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700–1000 BCE

Voices from the Cemetery: the Social Archaeology of Late-Medieval Burial

THIS ARTICLE CRITICALLY REVIEWS THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY of high- to late-medieval burials (c ad 1000–1550), examining how and why research questions have changed in recent decades. Examples are drawn from Christian mortuary practices principally from Britain, northern and central Europe, to demonstrate increasing emphasis on the social study of emotion, agency and place. The question of social ‘value’ is addressed, exploring how disciplinary research agendas respond to altering academic currents and wider public concerns regarding medieval burials. Four themes are examined that characterise key developments: (1) a shift towards the micro-scale; (2) the exploration of emotion, with particular focus on child and infant burials; (3) a pre-occupation with ‘deviancy’ (non-normative practices); and (4) ethical considerations in the public consumption of medieval burial archaeology. Recommendations for future work include the need for comparative, larger-scale analyses to map diachronic and regional patterns across medieval Europe and to counterbalance recent trends towards the local and the individual.

Becoming Human: The Archaeology of John C. Barrett

Becoming Human: The Archaeology of John C. Barrett

Beyond the can(n)on: what is ‘war through other stuff’?

ABSTRACT The term ‘War Through Other Stuff’ (WTOS) captures the diverse range of themes and experiences that arise when considering the non-military history of conflict. It pertains not only to physical ‘stuff’ but to the tangible and intangible legacies of war. This introduction to the special issue identifies the central tenants of WTOS and illustrates the value of considering the unexpected consequences of militarization: the activity of war and its repercussions in everyday life. We explore the key works that have been essential in the progression of this field, as well as some that have been particularly influential in the formation of this special issue, which draws from many academic fields, including social history, archaeology, memory studies, dress history, material culture and archival studies. We then introduce the articles, which showcase emerging research across various conflicts and tackle subjects as diverse as shoes, souvenir postcards and naming conventions. Overall, the special issue shows that traces of war can be found even in the most unexpected places.

Une archéologie sociale des Iroquoiens de Saint-Anicet, la question identitaire / A Social Archaeology of the Saint-Anicet Iroquoians: A Question of Identity

The Saint-Anicet region has received continuous archaeological attention between 1992 and 2017, resulting in a large dataset on three village sites. The McDonald, Droulers, and Mailhot-Curran sites represent a local sequence covering the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. The material culture, specifically remains of longhouses, corn cultivation, and a rich ceramic assemblage, clearly indicates an Iroquoian identity. While the main goal of fieldwork was to build a social archaeology based on the extensive excavation of longhouses, fieldwork was guided by the conviction that Saint-Anicet Iroquoians were members of a distinct group, identified as St. Lawrence Iroquoians by archaeologists. This study will review the data and arguments supporting this specific cultural identity while problems linked to this identity building will be acknowledged.

The Social Archaeology of the Levant: From Prehistory to the Present. Edited by Assaf Yasur-Landau, Eric H. Cline, and Yorke M. Rowan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Pp. xxxvi + 643. $95 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsThe Social Archaeology of the Levant: From Prehistory to the Present. Edited by Assaf Yasur-Landau, Eric H. Cline, and Yorke M. Rowan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Pp. xxxvi + 643. $95 (cloth).Melissa S. CradicMelissa S. CradicUniversity of Pennsylvania Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Near Eastern Studies Volume 79, Number 2October 2020 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/710252 Views: 92Total views on this site © 2020 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. For permission to reuse a book review in this section, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Infant nutrition: 1000 days that last a lifetime

Journal of Prescribing PracticeVol. 2, No. Sup10 Nutrition and Dysphagia in Primary CareInfant nutrition: 1000 days that last a lifetimeMark GreenerMark GreenerPharmacologist and freelance medical journalistSearch for more papers by this authorMark GreenerPublished Online:19 Oct 2020https://doi.org/10.12968/jprp.2020.2.Sup10.S9AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article References Agosti M, Tandoi F, Morlacchi L, Bossi A. Nutritional and metabolic programming during the first thousand days of life. Pediatr Med Chir. 2017;39(2):157. https://doi.org/10.4081/pmc.2017.157 Google ScholarAris IM, Bernard JY, Chen LW, et al.. Modifi able risk factors in the first 1000 days for subsequent risk of childhood overweight in an Asian cohort: signifi cance of parental overweight status. Int J Obes (Lond). 2018;42(1):44-51. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.178 Google ScholarBasu S, Yoffe P, Hills N, Lustig RH. The relationship of sugar to population-level diabetes prevalence: an econometric analysis of repeated cross-sectional data. PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e57873. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057873 Google ScholarBeluska-Turkan K, Korczak R, Hartell B, et al.. Nutritional Gaps and Supplementation in the First 1000 Days. Nutrients. 2019;11(12):2891. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11122891 Google ScholarCorfe S. What are the Barriers to Eating Healthily in the UK? 2018. https://www.smf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Whatare-the-barriers-to-eating-healthy-in-the-UK.pdf(accessedJune152020) Google ScholarFeldman-Winter L, Kellams A, Peter-Wohl S, et al.. Evidence-Based Updates on the First Week of Exclusive Breastfeeding Among Infants ≥35 Weeks. Pediatrics. 2020;145(4):e20183696. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-3696 Google ScholarFernández CR, Chen L, Cheng ER, et al.. Food Insecurity and Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Among WIC-Enrolled Families in the First 1,000 Days. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2020;52(8):796–800. https://doi./org/10.1016/j.jneb.2020.03.006 Google ScholarFewtrell M, Bronsky J, Campoy C, et al.. Complementary Feeding: A Position Paper by the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) Committee on Nutrition. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2017;64(1):119-132. https://doi.org/10.1097/MPG.0000000000001454 Google ScholarGreener M. As cheap as chips: obesity and earlyonset type 2 diabetes. Practical Diabetes. 2019;36(1):26–29. https://doi.org/10.1002/pdi.2207 Google ScholarHastorf C. The Social Archaeology of Food : Thinking about Eating from Prehistory to the Present. New York Cambridge University Press; 2017. Google ScholarLam J. Picky Eating in Children. Frontiers in Pediatrics. 2015;3. http://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2015.00041 Google ScholarMameli C, Mazzantini S, Zuccotti GV. Nutrition in the First 1000 Days: The Origin of Childhood Obesity. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016;13(9):838. Published 2016 Aug 23. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13090838 Google ScholarMayneris-Perxachs J, Swann JR. Metabolic phenotyping of malnutrition during the first 1000 days of life. Eur J Nutr. 2019;58(3):909–930. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-018-1679-0 Google ScholarPatterson R, Risby A, Chan M-Y. Consumption of takeaway and fast food in a deprived inner London Borough: are they associated with childhood obesity? BMJ Open. 2012;2(3):e000402. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000402 Google ScholarRaspini B, Porri D, De Giuseppe R, et al.. (2020) Prenatal and postnatal determinants in shaping offspring's microbiome in the first 1000 days: Study protocol and preliminary results at one month of life. Italian Journal of Pediatrics. 46(1):45. https://doi.org.10.1186/s13052-020-0794-8 Google ScholarRodríguez JM, Murphy K, Stanton C, et al.. (2015) The composition of the gut microbiota throughout life, with an emphasis on early life. Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease. 26(1):26050. https://doi.org.10.3402/mehd.v26.26050 Google ScholarRodríguez JM, Murphy K, Stanton C, et al.. The composition of the gut microbiota throughout life, with an emphasis on early life. Microb Ecol Health Dis. 2015;26:26050. Published 2015 Feb 2. https://doi.org/10.3402/mehd.v26.26050 Google ScholarSaid-Mohamed R, Pettifor JM, Norris SA. Life History theory hypotheses on child growth: Potential implications for short and longterm child growth, development and health. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 2017;165(1):4–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23340 Google ScholarSantoso MV, Kerr RB, Hoddinott J, Garigipati P, Olmos S, Young SL. Role of Women's Empowerment in Child Nutrition Outcomes: A Systematic Review. Advances in Nutrition. 2019;10(6):1138–1151. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmz056 Google ScholarShenker N. The mysteries of milk. The Biologist. 64(3):11–3. 2017. https://thebiologist.rsb.org.uk/biologist-features/158-biologist/features/1758-the-mysteries-of-milk(accessed28September2020) Google ScholarTaylor A, Loopstra R. Too Poor to Eat: Food insecurity in the UK. 2016. https://foodfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FoodInsecurityBriefing-May-2016-FINAL.pdf(accessed28September2020) Google ScholarTe Morenga L, Mallard S, Mann J. Dietary sugars and body weight: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and cohort studies. BMJ. 2012;346(jan15 3):e7492–e7492. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e7492 Google ScholarVernocchi P, Del Chierico F, Putignani L. Gut Microbiota Profiling: Metabolomics Based Approach to Unravel Compounds Affecting Human Health. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2016;7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01144 Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 1 October 2020Volume 2Issue Sup10ISSN (print): 2631-8385ISSN (online): 2631-8393 Metrics History Published online 19 October 2020 Published in print 1 October 2020 Information© MA Healthcare LimitedPDF download

Revealing and Revelling in the Floods on Country: Memory Poles within Toonooba

Revealing and Revelling in the Floods on Country: Memory Poles within Toonooba

Book Review of The Social Archaeology of the Levant: From Prehistory to the Present, edited by Assaf Yasur-Landau, Eric H. Cline, and Yorke M. Rowan

Book Review of The Social Archaeology of the Levant: From Prehistory to the Present, edited by Assaf Yasur-Landau, Eric H. Cline, and Yorke M. Rowan

Some remarks on new directions in social archaeology of early nomads

The article discusses the interpretational issues of the so-called actor-network theory (ANT) in relation to the archeology of nomadic societies. Based on selected examples, in particular the analysis of clan symbols, the so-called tamga and military organization units (so-called troops), the authors present potential new interpretations of known cultural phenomena in the archeology of the Great Steppe.

Using Social Media as a Source for Understanding Public Perceptions of Archaeology: Research Challenges and Methodological Pitfalls

Digital social science research has had an important impact on the types of methodological approaches to the internet and digital social phenomena, practices and communities. Whilst this paper does not seek to include empirical data, it aims to elaborate further on these debates in digital social research, that is, research on ‘life in digital society’ (Lindgren 2017: 230), using insights from my own research methods. This paper will firstly consider some methodological pitfalls that could sabotage our digital social archaeology research. It will then discuss the importance of understanding the framework and sources of our data. It will outline the two main methodological approaches I have used in my own empirical research to date – ‘thick’ social media data collection and analysis, and digital ethnography. It will discuss some of the many ethical considerations that must be assessed and implemented when undertaking this type of work. I will argue for a methodological pragmatism when undertaking social research in the fields of archaeology and heritage, although this pragmatism can be applied to any field of social study in the digital world.